SAN GABRIEL VALLEY | Development News

[saiholmes]

Arcadia planning panel approves proposed mall
The action is a setback for the Westfield Santa Anita shopping center, whose owner opposes the project by developer Rick Caruso.
By Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2007

Arcadia this week came one step closer to approving an 830,000-square-foot outdoor shopping center near the Santa Anita racetrack, the latest round in a bitter fight between two prominent mall companies.

For more than two years the normally sleepy San Gabriel Valley city has been embroiled in a battle between developer Rick Caruso, who is known for his signature open-air shopping villages such as The Grove, and the existing Westfield Santa Anita Mall, a traditional indoor mall that opposes a new neighbor.

The Arcadia Planning Commission on Wednesday voted unanimously to recommend approval of The Shops at Santa Anita, the new mall, to the City Council.

The proposal is expected to be approved by the council next month, city staff said.

But the proposal probably will hit some bumps after that: Opponents plan a ballot referendum against the mall later this year.

They say that not enough demand exists for new commercial space and cite concerns about traffic, pollution and crime.

"It just doesn't make sense to have another mall next to an existing mall in a community of 25,000 homes," said Sung Tse, a member of the executive board of Arcadia First!, a group funded by Westfield that opposes the development.

The 4,000-member nonprofit has inundated residents with full-page ads in local newspapers and has mailed letters, postcards and DVDs to residents several times a week as the City Council moves closer to reaching a decision, Tse said.

Caruso Affiliated has countered with its own newspaper ads.

Rick Caruso said the new development would boost business at the existing mall and racetrack.

He said Westfield's opposition to his development was anti-competitive, based on fear of lower leases.

"Westfield is scared of it because they're living in a past world where all these indoor malls had these little fiefdoms," he said.

Westfield officials could not be reached for comment late Thursday.

Wednesday's Planning Commission meeting was the second of the week on the issue.

After 750 residents showed up to raise impassioned pleas on both sides at a city Planning Commission meeting Monday — prompting supervision by police and the fire marshal, Assistant City Manager Don Penman said — a second meeting was convened Wednesday.

The conflict echoes Caruso's fight to build the Americana at Brand project in Glendale.

That project is under construction next to the Glendale Galleria.

[saiholmes]

History, density are uneasy neighbors in Pasadena
Residents say a pair of developments planned near Old Town threaten the district's character. City officials say they favor smart growth.
By Tony Barboza, Times Staff Writer
March 23, 2007

Before Disney Hall and Segerstrom Hall, Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena was renowned as one of the premier concert halls in Southern California.

Now it is at the center of tensions over the development of one of Old Town Pasadena's last relatively open spaces.

The 1,262-seat glass-and-concrete structure, surrounded by an elegant reflecting pool, opened in 1974 and is now owned by Harvest Rock Church, a nondenominational Christian congregation that draws about 1,000 worshipers each Sunday.

The auditorium is the cultural heart of the former Ambassador College campus, a 48-acre parcel that was owned by the Worldwide Church of God until 2004, when it began selling off the land in chunks to Harvest Rock, a school and two developers.

One of those developers, Pasadena-based Dorn Platz, plans to build more than 300 condos and apartments on 20 acres of the property. The bulk of Ambassador West, as the project is called, would be a six-story senior housing complex next to the auditorium. The plan has church officials feeling boxed in. Although they do not oppose the project, they say it will dwarf their worship space, which doubles as a concert venue for the California Philharmonic and other area orchestras.

"Why does it have to be so big?" asked Doug Huse, director of operations for the church. "It's too huge. It's too massive. It overpowers the neighborhood."

The project is one of two major housing complexes slated for the campus, where lush gardens with fountains and manicured lawns are dotted with well-kept period-revival mansions that used to be part of "Millionaires' Row" along Orange Grove Boulevard. Together, they will bring more than 1,000 new dwellings to Pasadena, a city of 141,000 that for decades has been described as built out.

"There are certainly no other 20-acre parcels sitting around," Mayor Bill Bogaard said.

The Pasadena City Council is expected to approve the new project, which has the support of historic preservationists and the West Pasadena Residents' Assn., on April 2.

In September, the City Council approved the development of an "urban village" of 820 residences and 22,000 square feet of commercial space, called Westgate, at the eastern end of the campus. It will be the largest housing development in the city's history and is expected to break ground this fall.

Those projects will complement Old Town's commercial space, placing consumers within walking distance of Colorado Boulevard's shops and restaurants, and giving them less reason to drive, said Mike Winter, a senior vice president of Sares-Regis, the developer of Westgate.

But some are concerned that the housing will further increase the density of the already traffic-congested downtown and change the character of a historic area. Pasadena has in recent years embraced smart growth — building high-density condos and apartments near commercial areas and transit lines. The city's downtown development boom has taken place alongside criticism that its growth model is unrealistic and that the new condos and lofts detract from the city's stately past.

Chris Sutton, a land-use attorney who grew up in the neighborhood and has represented anti-development residents, called the promises of high-density growth "inconsistent" and "hypocritical."

"Wealthier people see their city becoming more congested and overbuilt, and poorer people see the city becoming too expensive to live in," he said.

Sutton also doubts that new residents will abandon their cars in favor of the nearby Gold Line. "The people who can afford that level of payment and rent are going to buy two Mercedes-Benz and drive to downtown L.A.," he said.

"The community has known for years that the property was going to be developed," said Greg Galletly, president of Dorn Platz. "The plan that we've brought forward fit within the community's expectations."

A General Plan allowing higher-density, mixed-use development, adopted in the mid-1990s, was the harbinger of the move toward smart growth in Pasadena, Bogaard said. The intention, he said, was "to reduce dependence on the automobile. The hope is that our downtown will be vital and exciting."

Since then, there has been a surge of mixed-use, high-density development centered around the city's Old Town district along Colorado Boulevard. Among the projects is Del Mar Transit Village, a now-completed housing complex built around a Gold Line station a few blocks east of Ambassador West.

Critics say the city has gone overboard.

Sue Mossman, executive director of Pasadena Heritage, a historical preservation group, said she supports the Ambassador West plan because no historic buildings will be demolished but remains concerned about the effect it will have on the city's character.

"The lesson is that we are victims of our own success," she said. "Forty years ago, you couldn't get people to build new housing in Pasadena. Now that the community is recognized as a beautiful, economically vibrant and historic place to live, suddenly its popularity has risen astronomically. The development pressure here is tremendous."

Galletly defended Ambassador West as a modest development. Seniors, who will occupy most of the new condos, drive less and have less of an impact on traffic and noise, he said.

He also said the plan leaves 72% of the open space on the former campus intact and preserves historic mansions built near the turn of the 20th century that sit on the property.

Preservationists and neighborhood groups were satisfied with the latest development plans, which are far less ambitious than previous proposals that called for as many as 2,000 units.

Fred Zepeda, president of the West Pasadena Residents' Assn., said the effect will be minimal. "I don't know how it gets much better than this while still having development."

[saiholmes]

City seeks parking report before approving mall
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz Staff Writer

ARCADIA - City Council members want Westfield to show them the parking.

After strongly criticizing the mall owner, council members late Tuesday night attached one more condition before it would approve construction of a proposed expansion dubbed The Promenade.

"When they opened the first phase of their expansion, the biggest complaint we heard was about their parking," Councilman Bob Harbicht said Wednesday, referring to the mall's first phase of expansion, which opened in 2004.

By the end of the meeting, Westfield agreed to submit specific plans for accommodating the loss of parking during the project's construction, which based on its estimate for the city is between 600 and 800 spaces.

Although city staff recommended approval of the project, which the council will likely confer after approving the parking plan, traffic anxiety and pent-up frustrations over Westfield's battle with developer Caruso Affiliated made for a tense exchange at Tuesday's meeting.

Westfield spokeswoman Katey Dickey said the company would comply with the request and was looking forward to coming back before the council.

Westfield America President Ken Wong was traveling and couldn't be reached for comment Wednesday, one day after taking his lumps from the council with a smile.

"After we finally got done with all the questions, I scolded Westfield Corp. for the fact they've been a terrible corporate citizen and are trying everything they can to tear this community apart," Harbicht said.

Notwithstanding that, Harbicht said he told Wong, "I love your proposal and I think it will be great for the city."

The 100,000-square-foot expansion will add premium retailers in an outdoor setting above two levels of parking.

[saiholmes]

Arcadia City Council OKs Plan For Shopping Center
Council Objects To Plan For Off-Track Betting Facility

POSTED: 6:36 pm PDT April 17, 2007

ARCADIA, Calif. -- After a marathon debate that spanned two meetings and included comments from dozens of residents, the Arcadia City Council unanimously approved plans Tuesday for a high-end shopping center at a mostly unused parking lot at Santa Anita racetrack.

The council objected to plans for a 98,000-square-foot off-track betting facility in the development, and deleted it from the project.

That deletion was a minor victory for opponents of the development, who descended on the Arcadia City Council during two meetings to voice their distaste for the project. Many members of the opposition group Arcadia First! spoke to the council during a marathon meeting last Wednesday that stretched into the early hours of Thursday morning.

Jeff Schenkel, spokesman for Arcadia First!, said the group's executive committee would meet as soon as possible to discuss options -- including a possible referendum or litigation.

"It's still unknown, but it's up to them," Schenkel said.

The Shops at Santa Anita will be built by developer Rick Caruso, best known for turning the parking lot at Farmers Market into The Grove. This time his development would fill a rarely used parking lot next to the race track that served as a major location for the hit movie "Seabiscuit."

Caruso has repeatedly denied opponents' allegations that the project would generate more traffic than the area can handle or turn into a full-blown casino center.

"Nobody can come up here and say that Santa Anita intends to or has the right to expand gaming," Caruso told the council. "They don't intend to. We're not going to. And I've been on record saying -- and I will not support it. And I will come out against it because that's not what we're intending to do."

A letter from Caruso's firm to Arcadia residents promised to "build on the rich heritage of the track and provide upscale shops, unique outdoor restaurants, and lushly landscaped park-like settings and promenades."

The firm sweetened the pot for Arcadia residents with promises of a community performing arts center and 25,000 square feet of office space for the Arcadia School District headquarters.

The adjacent cities of Pasadena and San Marino have weighed in on the issue with concerns about traffic, housing and other worries.

Opponents argued that the center will snarl traffic at 20 nearby intersections, as the project would be 61 percent larger than The Grove in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles.

The Westfield Group, owner of a large shopping center next to the racetrack, has already said it opposes the project.

San Marino city planners have told Arcadia they worry about mall-related traffic on already-congested Huntington Drive, and Pasadena officials said they are worried about snarls at Colorado Boulevard and Michillinda Avenue during peak hours.

[godblessbotox]

slow goins on the atlantic times square. 2 cranes. one truck... and a realy big empty lot. looks as if they were driving piles... or somthing
image hosted on flickr

[saiholmes]

A Pasadena jewel gets a polishing
The distinctive, 80-year-old City Hall gradually reopens after a three-year, $117-million renovation.
By Cecilia Rasmussen, Times Staff Writer
May 6, 2007

Pasadena City Hall can be characterized as a beaux-arts rendition of a Renaissance-style palace, topped like a wedding cake with a Spanish Baroque dome. And it's back in the limelight after a $117-million renovation and seismic retrofit.

The landmark has appeared in movies and TV shows, portrayed as a mental institution, a police station and even the Supreme Court building. Now City Hall is receiving star billing around town as city officials reopen it in phases after three years of restoration.

Refurbished inside and out, including new plumbing, the 80-year-old edifice contains 235 rooms and passageways covering 170,000 square feet. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the building is surrounded by giant oak and magnolia trees and a Spanish Colonial courtyard that boasts a Baroque stone fountain.

It was first envisioned by civic leaders in 1922 during the City Beautiful movement as the "Athens of the West," rising at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, the centerpiece of the Pasadena Civic Center. The next year, voters approved a $3.5-million bond issue to build the City Hall, a library and a civic auditorium, all linked by grand boulevards. The library was first to open, in February 1927.

San Francisco architects John R. Bakewell Jr. and Arthur Brown Jr., who had designed San Francisco's lavish domed City Hall a decade earlier, won Pasadena's architectural design contest. Influenced by the style of Andrea Palladio, a 16th century Italian architect who favored Renaissance classicism, the team designed a rectangular building with a six-story circular tower.

The dome is tiled in a fish-scale pattern and topped by a lantern, a 41-foot-high cupola resting on columns, paying homage to domes gracing edifices such as St. Paul's Cathedral in London, the Hotel des Invalides in Paris, where Napoleon is entombed, and the church of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice.

Construction of the $1.34-million City Hall on Garfield Avenue began in January 1926 and required more than 1 million board feet of lumber, 20,000 cubic yards of concrete and more than 35,000 tons of rock and gravel from the San Gabriel River. Its interior speaks to custom craftsmanship, using materials such as Alaskan marble, cast stone, wrought iron, copper, vertical-grained white oak and Cordova clay tiles.

When it opened Dec. 27, 1927, it was considered to be among the strongest buildings in Southern California. It was also the tallest in Pasadena, its dome topping out at 206 feet.

"There's an old joke that City Hall opened for business five days before the 1928 Rose Parade so they could put the entry fees into the shiny new cash registers," said Ann Erdman, public information officer for the city.

Over the years, City Hall's attractions have proved irresistible to moviemakers. Its courtyard stood in for a Napa Valley town square in the 1995 movie "A Walk in the Clouds," starring Keanu Reeves and Anthony Quinn. Quinn rode through the rotunda on a white horse.

"The location managers searched that region for the perfect Napa-style courtyard for the big fiesta scene, and they finally found it — at Pasadena City Hall," Erdman said.

The imposing landmark also posed as an embassy in the "Mission: Impossible" television series, the Beverly Hills police station in all the "Beverly Hills Cop" movies — despite the fact that the real Beverly Hills police station is itself glamorous — and as a villa in Charlie Chaplin's Oscar-nominated 1940 film "The Great Dictator."

In a city where historic preservation is much like a civic obsession, City Hall has long been among the crown jewels of Pasadena, along with the Colorado Street Bridge, the Rose Bowl and the Gamble House. Although the renovation has been among the costliest public works projects in Pasadena, city officials decided that they couldn't risk losing the landmark in another quake.

The work was funded by local tax revenue, the sale of bonds and an increase in the percentage of electricity revenue that is annually transferred from the city's light and power fund to the general fund. It also received grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state, as well as contributions from individuals and foundations.

The entire civic center area has undergone a major face-lift in the last seven years, beginning with the demolition of an enclosed mall called Pasadena Plaza in 2000, which had become an eyesore. Residents will long remember how a bulldozer smashed through the mall as onlookers listened to the strains of classical music and the crowd cheered.

Now, City Hall, the Civic Auditorium and the library are back in an unobstructed "view corridor," and the old mall has been transformed into the fashionable Paseo Colorado.

[godblessbotox]

image hosted on flickr

from flickr by ME!

render [best i could find]

Originally Posted by city of alhambra

Sinanian Development, Inc. of Tarzana, CA, was selected by the City of Alhambra to complete the construction of the new Alhambra Civic Center Library, currently being built at 101 South First Street, adjacent to City Hall.

The company received a construction award of $27,960,000, financed through the sale of the existing library and tax increment bonds issued by the Redevelopment Agency and other revenues. The new library will be comprised of a total floor area of 45,000 sq. ft. and a two-level underground parking garage with approximately 240 spaces.

Charles Walton Associates AIA, Inc., (CWA AIA) of Glendale, was contracted to design the new facility. The exterior of the building will compliment the Moorish design elements common to Alhambra's other Civic Center facilities, while the interior will be bright, colorful and comfortable. Service areas will feature unique design elements to clearly identify where you are with specially-designed portals for each section. These will include areas for young children, teens, and adults, as well as a Literacy center and space devoted to the International Language collection. Each area will include its own seating, shelving, computers and study rooms, as well as reference and other collections. A spacious multi-purpose room, designed for library programs, public activities and meetings will be available; with its attached kitchen and independent, outside access doors, the room can be used "after hours." Another exciting element described by the architect is an outdoor patio reading area off the second floor service area. Following a trend more typically found in bookstore than in libraries, readers may be able to purchase a cup of coffee at an onsite beverage kiosk.

Due to the city's growing population, the Main Street library has been hampered by a lack of adequate space, mechanical and electrical systems, and suffers from insufficient parking for patrons and staff. There is no space in the existing facility to add new materials to its collections, computers have to be rebooted frequently due to power issues, children often have to sit on the floor to read, and it has been necessary to reconfigure the community room to serve other purposes, thereby leaving the library without a meeting area. Due to the nature of the building and property site, the current facility is not opportune for expansion or rehabilitation to meet future needs.

The new library will balance the use of land throughout the Project Area by creating a comprehensive Civic Center, while the sale of the existing site to a leading development firm will create a higher and better economic use of the existing library site, and upgrade the aesthetic characteristic of the site and overall character of the Downtown, as well as provide for the expansion of the community's housing in the Downtown area.

From a redevelopment viewpoint, "the construction of a new library adjacent to City Hall and a new downtown mixed-use facility is a win-win situation," noted Julio Fuentes, Alhambra City Manager. "And it's being achieved without placing any new taxes or fees on our property owners."

The existing library, located at 410 West Main Street, has been sold to a private developer, the J.H. Synder Company, and will be torn down and replaced by a five-story multi-use complex. The company's proposal consists of building 136 residential units (with two and three bedrooms per unit); 6,650 square feet of retail/office space front Main Street; and 381 at grade and subterranean parking spaces. Estimated project value is $75,000,000.

[klamedia]

i just ran into a guy on the Flyaway bus who used live in Altandena/Pasadena 10 years ago but now lives in Texas. He said that he couldn't believe how much Pasadena had changed over the last 10 years w/ so many sfh's gone and now where condos/apts stand. He also was super excited about the Gold Line running through the city. Though he was unnerved by how much Old Town had changed, seeing that when he left many of those buildings were boarded up w/ just the beginnings of things starting to change. Lastly, he was completely floored to find a Tiffany's on Colorado Boulevard.

[godblessbotox]

sfh's ?

[klamedia]

single family homes

[Robert Stark]

Originally Posted by godblessbotox

garvey rapid line


close... but not yet, guess i have to await december

what metro line is that?

[Fern~Fern*]

I wonder if there going to have the new Slinky Rapid buses on this route to catch people's attention. Definitely to gain more ridership on this corridor?

[godblessbotox]

Originally Posted by Robert Stark

what metro line is that?

hmm... it appears to be the garvey chavez metro rapid line

[godblessbotox]

atlantic time square / monterey park
Mass Excavation Reaches Grade 8-24-2007


project site:
http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/ho....asp?page=1403
navigate on the left menu. the hyperlinks in the main page are more or less usless

west main street corridor / alhambra

Site 5 - South Side of Main (Existing Library Site)
between Fourth & Fifth Streets
Proposed Developer: J. H. Snyder Co.

- Site Area: 2.1 acres
- Site Purchase Price: $9.14 million by the J. H. Snyder Company
- Approved for a five-story mixed-use development
- Up to 144 residential condominiums: (max. 2 bedrooms/unit upper four levels)
- Approximately 11,000 SF commercial space: (retail/office units for lease)
- Parking: at grade and subterranean to serve both uses
- Building permits are expected to be pulled around Oct. 2007 with
construction beginning Nov. 2007. Completion estimated to be Fall 2009.
- Estimated Assessed Value on Buildout: $75,000,000



Site 6 - NE corner of Main & Third

- Site Area: approx. 1.2 acres
- ARA currently owns 231, 239 and 249
W. Main and is in the process of
acquiring the second and final
property to complete the Site
- Proposed: 4-story mixed use
- 94 residential condominiums
(81 1-bedroom, 13 2-bedrooms)
- 5,000 SF commercial space
- 253 parking spaces
(2 levels of subterranean)
- Estimated Project Value: $48,500,000


Site 7 - South Side of Main
between Second & Fourth Streets

- Site Area: 2.3 acres
- Proposed: 5-story mixed-use
- 140 residential condominiums
- 21,500 SF commercial space
- 713 parking spaces
(at grade & subterranean)
- Estimated Project Value:
$76,459,000


Site 4 - North Side of Main
between Fourth & Fifth Streets

- Site Area: 1.6 acres
- Proposed: 5-story mixed-use
- 90 residential condominiums
(max. 2 bedrooms/unit)
- 22,679 SF Commercial Space
- Parking: 398 at grade & subterranean
- Estimated Project Value: $51,803,700


map:http://www.cityofalhambra.org/govern.../Map_WMain.pdf

[Robert Stark]

is that a TOD?

[godblessbotox]

ha, hell no. but i think there claiming them to be due to the 78[?] bus running down main

[Fern~Fern*]

... is the SGV ever planning to be their own county anytime soon?

[ArchiTennis]

their own county? why would they do that?

[godblessbotox]

Originally Posted by Ferneynism

... is the SGV ever planning to be their own county anytime soon?

yah. theres a meeting on the 29th. why dont you drive on down and tell us what you think. that way los angeles county can loose some tax revenue

[godblessbotox]

http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/ho....asp?page=1527

they are actually much further along in this project then the website indicates. i stopped by the site last night and they already had the concrete foundation mostly poured along with rebar and concrete support columns all over the place.

i could not take a photo because the damn green construction fence is taller then my tripod. but the site is WAY bigger and deeper then i would have ever thought it was going to be. also has a proper crane.

also, looks like they have a website now. though there is not much on it:
http://atlantictimesquare.com/

ill try to stop by sometime this weekend and grab some images, this thing is going to be a monster


ha, looks like they dont want to see the likes of me there

"Residents are also encouraged to
report problems or concerns such
as seeing people on the site at
night or weekends or hear noises
when the construction crews are
not on site during the week by
using either the non-emergency
Police number (626) 573 1311 or
if in an emergency 911."

page 4:
http://www.ci.monterey-park.ca.us/do..._pages_1-8.pdf